Sliding door assembly



May 7, 1957 Filed July 12, 1955 J. EICHLER 2,791,006

SLIDING DOOR ASSEMBLY 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig. 7

Joseph L. E ich/er 75 INVEN TOR.

United States Patent O SLIDING DOOR ASSEMBLY Joseph L. 'Eichler,Atherton, Calif.

Application July 12, 1955, Serial No. 521,490

1 Claim. (Cl, 20-19) This invention relates generally to sliding doorassemblies and is more particularly concerned with a novel sliding doorassembly which is economical and readily manufactured, readilyinstallable, light in weight and requiring the minimum of maintenanceand being neat and well appearing when installed.

A further object of the invention in conformance with that set forthabove is to provide a novel sliding door assembly including a door frameheader portion having reciprocably supported therein upper end portionsof a pair of overlapping sliding door assemblies wherein thereciprocable support structure for said door assemblies is containedwith the door frame header portion.

A further object of invention in conformance with that set forth aboveis to provide in a sliding door assembly of the character set forthwherein the reciprocable support structure includes cooperatingself-lubricated bearing and guide track portions, the door panelassemblies including staple-attached door panel portions, said doorassemblies being guidingly supported at a lower edge portion thereofwithin a door opening.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of the novel slidable door assemblyin position in a door frame;

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 2-2 of Figure1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view with portions broken away takensubstantially on line 33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of one of the slidable doors of theassembly;

Figure 5 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the stop elementscooperating with one of the doors of the assembly;

Figure 6 is an enlarged perspective view of another stop elementcooperating with the other door of the assembly; and

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the bearing groove elements for thedoor members.

Indicated generally at it is an opening contained in a wall 12 in whichthe novel slidable door assembly 14 will be mounted. The slidable doorassembly 14 includes a door frame header portion 16 and a pair ofoverlapping slidable doors 18 and 20.

The door frame header portion 16 includes a horizontal top element 22which is secured in any suitable manner the width of the door opening10, and has secured adjacent the opposite edge portions 24 and 26thereof in any suitable manner, a pair of mutually parallel downwardlyextending side flange skirt elements 28 and 30, respectively, defining adownwardly opening trough portion 32. The side flange skirt elements 28and 30 include on oppositely facing inner portions 34 and 36,respectively, in upwardly spaced relation from the lower 2,791,006Patented May 7, 1957 *edge portions 38 and 40, respectively, a pair oflongitudinally extending support strip elements 42 and 44,

elements by means of suitable fasteners, such as the "screws indicatedat 46. The elements -42 and 44 each include a notched out corner portion48 and 50, respectively, having suitably secured therein a verticallyextending self-lubricating fiber track element 52 which extends thelength 'of the door frame inner portion. The fiber "track elements 52are rounded off at the upper edge portion thereof for the purpose ofreducing frictional cooperation with hearing elements to be subsequentlydescribed.

The doors 18 and 20 each include mutually parallel side frame elements54 and-56 suitably connected at'their upper and lower ends by transversehead and sill portions 58 and 60, respectively, the elements 54 through60 each including a grooved edge portion 62, see Figure 3, a frameelement forming a recess groove portion in each other for receivingtherein a suitable door panel element 64 of fiber, plywood or anysuitable material, which is secured in the notched out portion 62 bymeans of staple elements 66.

The head elements 58 of the doors 18 and 20 each include adjacent upperend portions 68 on oppositely disposed sides 70 and 72, respectively, apair of spaced bearing groove elements 74 which include a downwardlydisposed rounded groove portion 76 for overlying reciprocable engagementwith the upper rounded edge portion of the guide rails 52, the bearinggroove elements being of a fiber material which is substantiallyselflubricating, and including a pair of transverse aperture portions 78by which the bearing groove elements may be secured to the elements 58of the doors by means of suitable fasteners such as screws 80. It willbe noted that the rail structure and bearing groove elements are alldisposed within the trough 34 of the door frame header portion 16.

In order to prevent the accidental removal of the doors 18 and 20 of thetracks 52, the door 20 is provided with a stop element 82 secured in anysuitable manner to the head element 58 of the door 20 between the door20 and door 18, the stop element 82 including an upper rounded endportion 84 which is slightly spaced from a lower surface portion 86 ofthe horizontal element 22 of the door frame head portion. Thus upwardmovement of the door 20 is limited by the stop element 82 andaccordingly the bearing groove elements 74 thereof will be retained uponthe respective cooperating track 52. The door 20 will be that which isnormally outwardly facing when the slidable door assembly is used for acloset, for example, and the door 18 includes adjacent the lower edgeportion 38 of the side flange skirt element 28 a stop element 83 whichincludes a transverse aperture portion 90 through which extends asuitable fastening element such as the screw 92 whereby the stop elementmay be secured to the head element 58 of the door 18 in slightly spacedrelation from the lower edge 38 of theskirt portion 28 whereby thebearing groove element 74 of the door 18 are prevented from movingupwardly and off of their respective cooperating guide rails 52.

The doors 18 and 20 each include in the sill portion 60 thereoflongitudinally extending downwardly disposed groove portions 94 whichguidingly receive upwardly extending flange portions 96, a U-shapedchannel element which extends the width of the door frame, the flangeelements 96 being secured by means of an integral bight portion 98 whichis secured to a floor surface 100 by means of suitable fasteningelements such as the screws indicated at 102.

Thus has been disclosed a novel sliding door assembly which fullyconforms the objects of invention heretofore I set forth.

Various positional directional terms such as front," rear, top, etc.,are utilized herein to have only a relative connotation to aid indescribing the device and are not intended to require ,any particularorientation with respect to any external elements.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed,-and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

In a sliding door, a door frame header comprising a horizontal topelement having a pair of depending flanges on opposite sides thereof, apair of horizontal tracks between said flanges secured thereto in spacedrelation to the same, a pair of overlapping doors between said trackshaving top and bottom edges, grooved elements on said top edges slidablystraddling said tracks, an inverted channel guide extending horizontallybeneath said bottom edges and slidably engaged thereby, an upstandingfirst stop element secured to one door and extending above its top edge,a second stop clement secured to the other door below one of saidflanges, said first and sec ond stop elements being engageable with thetop element of the header and with said one flange respectively, toretain the grooved elements on said tracks.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS580,590 Agard Apr. 13, 1897 1,950,037 Schaeifer Mar. 6, 1934 2,353,573Lindsley July 11, 1944

